Case Notes:
Phil Gordon
(Physiotherapy, India )

Two of my friends were planning to go to India for an extra placement during the 2nd year, and I joined the bandwagon on impulse. It was to be the first time I had gone so far for so long, and had never organized anything like this independently before.

Work the World provided a framework, a means of bypassing the huge amount of Indian bureaucracy that goes with organizing a placement there, and expert support if needed. Alongside this, the success of the placement relies on the autonomy, initiative and resourcefulness of the student. My friend rang Omar countless times, we checked out the dates with uni, and booked ourselves on 8-week placements with the yoga add-on.

Vaccinated, packed and Lonely Planet in hand (an absolute must), we set off for India. Anthony met us at the airport during his day off, and paid for a taxi to the house. We had our first taste of the cook’s amazing food, which was consistently delicious the whole time we were there. The accommodation was comfortable and spacious. The next day Anthony showed us around Trivandrum, namely the ATMs, train stations, western foodstores etc. We also familiarized ourselves with buses and auto-rickshaws.

The day after, we met the key players in our placement, including the Chairman of Ananthapuri Hospital, and Veena, the Chief Physiotherapist. The clinical areas on offer were Neuro ICU, Medical ICU, Musculoskeletal Outpatients and Respiratory. We all got to split our time there exactly how we wanted. As time went on, Veena consistently tweaked the schedule according to interesting cases and the personal preferences we developed, and supported us when we took long weekends, encouraging us to see as much of India as possible. She organised in-service training sessions, and arranged for each of us to see three different surgical procedures (cardiothoracic, neurological and orthopaedic).

Some cultural and environmental differences are apparent everywhere. Everywhere is hot, including the wards (we went from April to June), everything is very cheap, and I’ve never met such friendly and approachable people. Conversation here comes easily. Clinically, we had to adapt to a much more fact-based method of learning, and employ treatment plans which did not always correlate with what we had learnt from our two practical placements in the U.K. I first saw language restraints and palpation through clothing as barriers, but these limitations forced us to improve the way we communicated through our hands and body language.

We had backup and support throughout our placement. Veena and her colleagues were incredibly approachable, and Anthony and Sally (our accommodation manager) were on hand daily to check we were happy and run the house. Both proved invaluable when organizing the rest of our travels, such as booking train tickets.

I’m now into week six of my placement. I’ve seen patients with head injuries, new and old CVAs, spinal TB, nerve root compression, fractures, post-polio features, and children with a whole host of conditions. I’ve worked with very different equipment, and have my stint in respiratory to look forward to. My previous two placements have provided just enough background for me to balance applying my own clinical reasoning with getting used to new treatments, protocols and equipment. At the weekends (amongst other things) I’ve bathed in the Arabian sea at sunrise, followed a herd of wild bison during a trek and accidentally joined a Hindu pilgrimage in a 3000-year old temple. And I haven’t even started travelling yet!

There are many reasons I am glad I have done this with Work the World. Firstly, the support, consultancy, connections, introduction to Indian life and encouragement to explore the entire state of Kerala (and beyond) has proved invaluable. Travelling alone draws you to tourist areas, and working in a hospital full-time then going straight home denies you the chance to see the society that the hospital works within. Combining work and travelling, meeting like-minded people at the Work the World house and countless open, honest conversations with Indians everywhere we went has broadened my views on healthcare, economy, people and culture, and developed my awareness of my goals, values and priorities. And I’m only half way through.